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BUILDING AN A+ TEAM. GROUP-4 MEMBERS. Ralph Matthew A. Ong (M997Z245). Ha Phuoc Vu (M997Z244). Chien Pham Dinh (M997Z201). Melva Hermayanty Saragih (M997Z227). Tran Khai Khuong (M997Z212). INTRODUCTION. Josh Schwarzapel, the co-founder of Cooliris.
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GROUP-4 MEMBERS Ralph Matthew A. Ong (M997Z245) Ha Phuoc Vu (M997Z244) Chien Pham Dinh (M997Z201) MelvaHermayantySaragih (M997Z227) Tran KhaiKhuong (M997Z212)
INTRODUCTION • Josh Schwarzapel, the co-founder of Cooliris. • Josh studied Entrepreneurship at Stanford. • Soujanya Bhumkar is the CEO of Cooliris. • The technical team, Austin and Kyan, were working feverishly for months, but they needed more engineers. • Josh accepted the challenge to help Cooliris to expand by building a world-class technical team.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY • At the time of cooliris founding, internet was undergoing a fundamental transformation. A host of new-websites had venture-funded, had sprung up to empower everyday users to become content publishers by posting blogs, making profiles, publishing videos, and sharing photos. • Narrow search terms returned hundreds of thousands of results, and information coming from the social graph on sites such as Facebook and MySpace was becoming too lengthy to consume. • Soujanya, Josh, and Austin founded Cooliris in January 2006 with the idea that internet has become the fundamental element in the lives of billions of people, the user interaction metaphors had changed very little since the first browsers.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY • Internet had always been characterized by a clunky, non-intuitive navigation experience. • In 2005, Soujanya and Mayank Mehta started to communicate and talked about how to make the internet a more rich experience. Soujanya had an idea of creating a mouse-over preview of any embedded link on a web page. • In September 2006, Josh, Soujanya, and Austin had released Cooliris Preview as a free browser plug-in.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY • The technical team came to realize the fundamental value created a richer web navigation experience and dreamt up a second product named, Piclens. • Piclens allowed users to view online photos from photo sharing sites or online image searches as full-screen slideshows rather than low-quality thumbnail images or larger files that had to be downloaded individually. • The team built their product as well as their vision began to evolve into something better.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY • The team realized the challenge of improving web navigation extended beyond a browser add-in to the fundamental waysin which we access, discover, and navigate through information. • They began soliciting feedbacks to investors and industry friends on how to take their ideas into the next level. • In one meeting, Randy Komisar, partner oat KPCB, suggested that his firm might be able to provide some fundings and incubate the company in their adjacent offices. • After several weeks, Cooliris received and signed a term sheet for investment and took up residence in the KPCB incubator immediately next door to offices to such famous venture capitalists as John Doerr and Brook Byers.
Identification • The next big item on the agenda was to hire a top-tier technical team to execute on the company’s technical vision; • They need team-members who were both entrepreneurial and technically brilliant.
The first step in hiring process • Start by tapping their social networks; • Cooliris would pay you $1,000 if you recommended the candidate they eventually hired; • Josh also searched online databases such as LinkedIn and Google, looking for technical talent at similar companies as well as with search terms such as “3D graphics engineer.” • Josh posted advertisements on LinkedIn and the Bay Area edition of Craigslist.
Choosing… • Over 1,200 resumes were reviewed based on either a good school background, relevant experience, or preferably both. • Josh contacted 400 candidates via email to invite them to talk more with Cooliris.
Interview • The Cooliris team brought in 50 candidates for a first round interview; • Josh or Soujanya would give the candidate a ten-minute outline of Cooliris’s vision and the products that had already been developed; • After the interview, the Cooliris team decided to invite 9 candidates back for a final round interview.
The final interview • Revealing a little more about the exciting future of the company; • From nine candidates, they could find five very strong candidates; • Cooliris could finally add desperately needed resources to the skeleton technical team who had already been stretched to the maximum.
Question 1 • How would you go about indentifying the right candidates and striking a balance between ingenuity and experience? • Where exactly would you search for them? • How do you successfully attract your top choices to join your venture?
Where exactly would you search for them? • They are starting a new entrepreneur, they should have asked the professional searching companies. Since, they are: • Well-trained and experienced recruitment specialists nationwide • Nationwide database of the largest number of highly talented candidates • A Strict recruitment process and a proven recruitment method • Cooliris’s social networks • Online databases such as LinkedIn and Google • An other important way to search for them is: making them to search for you. • Building brand, company images and choosing suitable for your media or ads to seed this message to them
How do you successfully attract your top choices to join your venture? • Compensation (If you pay the lowest, it will be nearly impossible to attract top-notch talent ) • Interesting work • An exciting work environment • Bonuses • Stock options • Good retirement plan • Insurance • Generous vacation package, sick days and personal time off • A flexible work schedule
Question #2 Make a list of what Cooliris is doing right and doing wrong, if anything, with its current recruiting process? How should they improve it?
Cooliris is doing right • Recruit duos, trios and teams, not only individuals. • Meet the recruit’s spouses or significant others and figure out how to meet their needs as well. • Have multiple people reach out to them during the recruiting process to see if they have questions or concerns. • Ask recruits about their favorite causes, and how the venture might be able to help them serve those causes. • Follow up every few months to try again.
Cooliris is doing wrong • The team build the product their vision of the company began to evolve into something bigger. • The challenge of improving web navigation extended beyond a browser add-in to the fundamental ways. • Cooliris team might not know or have links to all the best technical people.
How should they improve it? • Be selective in hiring. Match values, not just skills • Use teams of talented people. Give them the power to decide. • Partners must win also. • Provide high rewards for the right results, compensation, benefits, ownership. • Preach what you practice. Communicate the vision goals and values of your venture. • Use honest 2 way communication to build trust. Tell people how they are doing and where they stand.
Question #3 • How should recruiting process differ for hiring various functional positions in this venture? For example, do the same rules apply to hiring engineers as sales and business development talent?
Recruiting process should be different for hiring various functional positions in this venture. For example there are some differences between hiring engineers as a sales and as a business development such as on: 1. Personality test - For a sales, company need to make sure the sales have good skill in communication. Because a sales engineer will meet a lot of people and have the opportunity to travel and live in all parts of the globe. - For a business development, company need to know the strong leadership and creative of the candidate.
2. Qualitative test • For Sales engineer, company should measure the sales extensive knowledge of their technologically and scientifically advanced products, components and processes. Because sales will use their technical skills to demonstrate to potential customers how and why the products or services they are selling would suit the customer better than competitors’ products. • For business development talent, company should measure capability of managerial as well as high intelligence. Because the man as business development need to control all of system management such as project performance, profit and efficiency, and build development sustainability.